Mott hoped to find a lady on an Iowa community Facebook page，but she didn’t even know her name.All she knew is that the ____ woman looked to be in her 30s，had purple hair and was ____ gentle and compassionate.
At 10:25 am on Black Friday Mott was busy shopping ____ she received a(n) ____ phone call，which came in from the nursing home where her mom lived.The nurse on the phone ____ her that her mom passed away.Mott just kind of ____ ，kneeling down and starting to cry uncontrollably.
The lady came across Mott and，instead of passing by，she ____ and asked what was wrong.Then she kept Mott in a tight ____ until Mott was able to regain enough senses to get back on her feet.She even ____ Mott to the checkout line and asked if any shoppers had enough Christmas spirit to let the sad woman ____ in line.The lines immediately parted to let her ____.Mott，still ____，didn’t think to ask the lady her name after paying her bill.
In recent days，Mott’s ____ to the woman had been a comfort so much that she longed to thank her ____.So she reached out and hoped people would help her find the lady.
Stephanie，42，realized that Mott had been looking for her.The most ____ thing she could think to do was to attend Mott’s mother's ____.Once Mott ____ her，the two strangers-turned-friends wrapped each other in another big hug，tears running down.The family and other mourners ____ ，probably feeling what I felt:It was reassuring to see such a warm，visible sign that the ____ meetings and random acts of kindness we often take for granted sometimes ____ a big difference.
1.A. wealthy B. proud C. mysterious D. fortunate
2.A. slightly B. extremely C. differently D. hardly
3.A. when B. while C. where D. because
4.A. exciting B. encouraging C. refreshing D. shocking
5.A. informed B. warned C. convinced D. reminded
6.A. came out B. worked out C. blacked out D. helped out
7.A. glared B. smiled C. waved D. stopped
8.A. place B. hug C. way D. coat
9.A. 1ed B. called C. followed D. pushed
10.A. stand B. walk C. cut D. wait
11.A. across B. out C. through D. off
12.A. numb B. clumsy C. unconscious D. tired
13.A. gratitude B. relief C. satisfaction D. regret
14.A. in progress B. in reality C. in advance D. in person
15.A. painful B. appropriate C. troublesome D. effective
16.A. party B. treatment C. funeral D. meeting
17.A. recognized B. met C. thanked D. accompanied
18.A. slid away B. calmed down C. looked on D. turned up
19.A. temporary B. constructive C. frequent D. chance
20.A. do B. make C. have D. enjoy
Secure your home with these expert-advised home safety tips that turn burglars into 1osers.
◆Store valuables carefully
Thieves already know you’re storing valuables，so upgrade your secret hiding places to ones that are harder to detect. 1. .Thieves often search drawers in the master bedroom but tend to leave kids’ rooms untouched.Just make sure it's a place your child can’t easily access，1ike on a high closet shelf.
◆Install your security system in the right spot
2.，but they also make it easy for burglars to see inside your home.Install your security keypad in a spot that is not visible from the doorstep so no one can see if your alarm is set.
◆ 3.
Knowing your house is completely unattended can make your vacation unnecessarily stressful.Whether you’re going away for two weeks or just a long weekend，ask a neighbor to check daily for flyers stuck in your front door.Foxy criminals have been known to leave pizza ads in doors to see how long it takes for residents to remove them.Stopping newspapers and mail delivery for the duration of your trip is a sure way to prevent mail from piling up at your doorstep.
◆Pay attention to bathroom windows
Burglars are often people you’ve seen before，like a serviceman working on your house.If a yard worker or unknown visitor uses the bathroom，he may open the window so he can gain entry later.4..
◆Join in a community-wide crime prevention program
Cops are getting creative when it comes to catching criminals，and there are lots of opportunities for you to do your part to keep your community safe.Operation Identification is a nationwide project that encourages people to mark their property to fight against burglary and theft.5. .Also look into groups like Neighborhood Watch to see how you can get involved.
A.Let your neighbors be your eyes
B.Lower the volume of your telephone finger
C.Be sure to double-check that lock after this seemingly innocent person leaves
D.A simple solution is keeping important documents and objects in your child’s room
E.Decorative glass or large windows may be important for your front entrance feng shui
F.If you suspect that someone is trying to break into your home，press the“Panic”button
G.In some cities，burglary rates for the system are much lower than those of non-Participants
The conclusion of the Paris Agreement in 2015，in which almost every nation committed to reduce their carbon emissions(排放)，was supposed to be a turning point in the fight against climate change.But many countries have already fallen behind their goals.Meanwhile emissions worldwide continue to rise.
The only way to catch up is to aggressively pursue an approach that takes advantage of every possible strategy to reduce emissions.Wind and solar energy are usually part of this effort，but it must also include investing heavily in carbon capture(碳捕捉)，utilization(应用)and storage(CCUS)—a range of technologies that pull carbon dioxide from the air，and transform it into useful materials or store it underground.Although CCUS has been opposed as too expensive and unproved，recent gains have made it far more effective.Improvements such as chemical compounds could drive the cost down from $1 00 per ton of captured carbon in 20 16 to $ 20 per ton by 2025，according to a 2016 article in Science.
Three primary CCUS paths lead to the reduction of carbon emissions:retrofitting(改装)existing power plants；reducing emissions in industries that cannot run on renewable energy；and directly removing carbon from the air.Cutting emissions from existing electric power stations with CCUS could be made more appealing in a future with a circular carbon economy，in which captured carbon could be resold and recycled for other uses——for instance，serving as a raw material for making concrete or plastics.
The basic idea of carbon capture has faced a lot of opposition.Skepticism has come from climate change deniers，who see it as a waste of money，and from passionate supporters of climate action, who fear that it would be used to justify continued reliance on fossil fuels.Both groups are ignoring the recent advances and the opportunity they present.By limiting investment in decarbonization，the world will miss a major avenue for reducing emissions in a variety of industries.CCUS can also create jobs and profits from what was previously only a waste material by creating a larger economy around carbon.
The transition to clean energy has become necessary.But that transition’s ability to achieve deep decarbonization will become less effective without this wide range of solutions，which must include CCUS.
1.What can CCUS technologies do in reducing emissions?
A. Closing down existing power plants.
B. Limiting investment in heavy industry.
C. Processing raw materials underground.
D. Turning carbon dioxide into useful materials.
2.Why is it attractive to retrofit existing power plants with CCUS?
A. It can remove carbon directly from the air.
B. It can benefit the industry economically.
C. It is the most affordable way to capture carbon.
D. It helps power plants produce concrete or plastics.
3.What can be inferred from paragraph 4?
A. Fossil fuels will be no longer used in future.
B. Investing in decarbonization is a worthwhile project.
C. Climate change deniers believe in the necessity of decarbonization.
D. Little progress has been made in the fight against carbon emissions.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Capture That Carbon B. Let Carbon Go
C. Stand Firm with Energy Protection D. Say Goodbye to Energy Crisis
“At almost any given age，most of us are getting better at some things and worse at others，”Joshua Hartshorne，an MIT cognitive(认知的)science researcher and the lead author of a study looking at how intelligence changes as we age，told Business Insider.His team quizzed thousands of people aged 10—90 on their ability to do things like remembering lists of words，recognizing faces，learning names，and doing math.Their results suggest that no matter your age，there’s almost always a new peak on the horizon.
The human brain has a remarkable capacity to recognize and identify faces，and scientists are just beginning to learn why.On average，we know that our ability to learn and remember new faces appears to peak shortly after our 30th birthday.
Having trouble focusing? The study suggests that our ability to maintain attention improves with age，reaching its peak around age 43.While younger adults may excel in the speed and flexibility of information processing，adults approaching their mid-years may have the greatest capacity to remain focused.
Dating is tough.One of the reasons could be that we’re generally bad at reading other people’s emotions until we reach our late 40s.That’s according to one component of Hartshorne’s study，which involved showing thousands of people images of faces cropped tightly around the eye area.Participants were asked to describe the emotion the person in the photo was feeling.Performance peaked for people aged around 48.
Many people believe that their math skills decline after they leave school and stop practicing arithmetic.But the next time you try to split up a check，keep this in mind:your ability to do basic subtraction and division doesn’t reach its apex until your 50th birthday.
Ever wonder why you always lose at Scrabble? Good news:Your best days may be ahead.According to people’s scores on multiple—choice vocabulary tests，most of us don’t reach our peak wordsmithing abilities until we’re in our late 60s or early 70s.
1.What did the scientists mainly test during the research?
A. Communication ability. B. Athletic ability.
C. Intelligence ability. D. Reading ability.
2.What does the underlined word“apex”in paragraph 5 mean?
A. Destination. B. Top. C. Goal. D. Minimum.
3.Who is most likely to succeed according to the text?
A. Lucy，72，trying to win at Scrabble.
B. Tom，26，trying to identify strangers’ faces.
C. Jack，48，trying to focus his attention for a long time.
D. Lily，43，trying to read the emotions in different eyes.
4.What does Hartshorne’s study mainly tell us?
A. There is no end to learning.
B. Constant dropping wears away the stone.
C. Genius is nothing but labor and diligence.
D. A foot may prove short while an inch may prove long.
Five thousand square meters of old damaged cars，motorcycles and boats fill this junkyard.For a casual onlooker，this might be a very sad sight.But for Andy.it's a real treasure.“I’ve been a junk hoarder(囤积者)for my whole life and I like fixing up what shouldn’t be thrown away.Around 200 old cars end up in this junkyard every week.Some of them are sold for parts，others get repaired，and still others are beyond repair.”
His father Bobby started the business some 50 years ago and still spends every morning there.The father and son have very different approaches to their work.They got a Dean cab that was getting thrown away and that was the father’s project，which Andy did not want him to do.“He did basically the opposite of everything I told him and I think he did it just to make me mad.He dumped a ton of money into this car，but in the end it wouldn’t run.”Andy said jokingly.
The unusual family business attracted the attention of a TV crew.That’s how the show Janka Empire came to be featured on a network of the Discovery Channel.This show，five years of shooting，five seasons and 60 episodes(集)，is popular.“There are hundreds of junkyards throughout the United States.I think what’s interesting is that it is a family business.My father and I started the business and we joke very well back and forth and I think that's what people like.The cars that end up at the junkyard come out with endless surprises.See，this was a junk car and we restored it with a blown motor.Yet I don’t get a chance to ride around it too often.Because despite its shining appearance，the noise of the engine is truly deafening and I worry my neighbors will not put up with it.”
1.What does Andy seem to like about his junkyard?
A. He is proud of its large scale.
B. He is addicted to collecting things.
C. He enjoys creating value out of the waste.
D. He has the passion to take over the business one day.
2.What can we infer from the“one Dean cab”case?
A. The father is ready to follow his son’s advice.
B. The father goes against his son deliberately.
C. The son is impatient and fed up with his father.
D. The father and son often disagree with each other.
3.Why is the show Janka Empire popular?
A. There are few junkyards in the United States.
B. The father and son work together in a fun way.
C. The show is a series of 5 seasons and 60 episodes.
D. The family business shows much concern for their neighbors.
4.What does the underlined word“it”refer to in the last paragraph?
A. Janka Empire. B. The family business.
C. The shining appearance. D. The noise of the engine.
Some people might dream of splendid surroundings—but also need a reasonably affordable cost of living.Try one of these four astonishing spots for a magical retirement，from an International living.com report，where retirees can live well on less.
Sintra，Portugal
A favorite summer retreat of former royalty，which is just a 40-minute train ride from Lisbon，is the pastel-painted Palace of Pena，a 19th-century Romanticist marvel with pink turrets and daffodil-yellow tower on a hill surrounded by pine forests.A couple could live well in this arts-rich tourist town，though pricier than other cities in Portugal，on a budget of $ 3,065 a month.
Cusco，Peru
Cusco，Peru’s most historic city，is a UNESCO World Heritage site.Once an Incan capital.Cusco has clear，sunny days.Colonial structures have been changed into fashionable restaurants，shops and even homes.Superfoods，like chia seeds，quinoa and maca，are inexpensive and plentiful.A retired couple could enjoy a good life on$ 1,700 a month.
The West Coast，Ireland
The Wild Atlantic Way is a cycling or driving route that stretches across the west coast of Ireland.At the heart of the route is one of the most amazing natural wonders，the landmark Cliffs of Moher in County Clare—one of Ireland’s most visited natural attractions.On a budget of around $ 2，800 a month，a retired couple could live quite comfortably.
San Miguel de Allende，Mexico
San Miguel was declared a UNESCO World Heritage City in 2008.The colonial centro has much to offer retirees:low cost of living，arts，charming local cultural traditions and mild weather year-round.San Miguel is a few hours’ drive from Mexico City.The days are comfortably warm and the nights blessedly coo1.A retired couple could live comfortably on a monthly budget of $ l，650.
1.Who is the text intended for?
A. Adventurers. B. Photographers. C. Retirees. D. Artists.
2.Where will you go if you want to taste the local foods at a reasonable price?
A. Sintra，Portugal. B. Cusco，Peru.
C. The West Coast，Ireland. D. San Miguel de Allende.Mexico.
3.How much can a couple save monthly at most if they choose the cheapest site?
A. $1,650. B. $1,150. C. $1,365. D. $1,415.
